Air taxis, or, by their technical name, electric take-ff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), have been increasing in popularity over the past few years. Companies like Volocopter and Joby Aviation have already conducted extensive testing and are preparing for commercial deployment in cities around the world.
In this emerging market, Airbus, the world’s only major commercial aircraft manufacturer along Boeing, has unveiled its own design for a future air taxi, called CityAirbus NextGen. The two-tonne class CityAirbus, with a wingspan of approximately 12 metres, is being developed to fly with an 80 km range and to reach a cruise speed of 120 km/h, making it perfectly suited for trips in major cities, while bypassing on ground traffic.
“Rolling out CityAirbus NextGen for the very first time is an important and very real step that we are taking towards advanced air mobility and our future product and market. Thank you to our community, team and partners all over the world for helping us make this a reality”, said Balkiz Sarihan, Head of Urban Air Mobility at Airbus.
The company presented its fully electric prototype to the public in early March, with a maiden flight to take place later this year. The unveiling coincided with the opening of the new CityAirbus test centre in Donauwörth, which will be dedicated to testing systems eVTOLs.
The centre, which is part of Airbus’ ongoing and long-term investment in Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), began its operations with the CityAirbus NextGen’s power-on in December 2023 and it will be used for the remaining tests required before the prototype’s first flight. These tests cover the electric motors with their eight rotors as well as the aircraft’s other systems such as flight controls and avionics.
At the same time, Airbus is expanding its global network and partnerships to create a unique ecosystem that will foster a successful and viable AAM market. The company has recently signed an agreement with LCI, a leading aviation company, to focus on the development of partnership scenarios and business models in three core AAM areas: strategy, commercialisation and financing.
